Set Your Children’s “Internet Allowances”

The New Kudoso router that is currently listed on Kickstarter aims to put parents back in control.

How? You may ask, well it is designed to allow parents to reward their children with internet time for doing chores, homework or for good behavior.

It’s reported by the National Institutes of Health that on average ‘American children spend five to seven hours per day staring at screens’, not just computer screens but phone, TV and tables as well. They say ‘this leads to increased risks of weight gain and obesity, anxiety, depression, and inability to sleep’. The idea is to get children away from this culture of just interacting with computers and sitting around which is damaging to children’s physical and mental health.

This is where Kudoso steps in, as a system for managing kid’s internet access by using a nice little combination of software and hardware. This is done by the parent setting rewards for activates which could be taking the dog for a walk, doing homework, washing the pots and so on. Each activity will be setup in a points system and once a task is completed the parent can assign the reward / points to their child. Parents can even set up how the points or rewards can be used so watching and educational TV program would need fewer points than say, using twitter or Facebook, which gives parents a wide range of control.

Positive reinforcement is nothing new but this product would allow busy parents or those that find it hard to say NO!, to their children the ability to re-balance their relationships and set a regime which the kids must conform to if they want their internet fix.

The idea is certainly intriguing and while I can see some great benefits I’m sure it will spark a heated debate on whether parents should implement technology to control their children or take a more active role in their upbringing. After all a big part of growing up is about making responsible decisions for yourself and if this is taken away from our children will we just end up with a generation of automatons.